It is grey and wet outside but you can be warm and sunny inside. Come have a taste this Tuesday.
2020 Fantinel, Sun Goddess $15 Sauvignon Blanc Produced with love and passion from sun-kissed vineyards owned by Fantinel family in Friuli Venezia Giulia, where the peculiar microclimate and the precious terroir guarantee premium quality wines. aromatic, with tropical and spicy notes of yellow bell pepper, banana, and melon. The palate is: particularly structured with a balance between an intense acidity and a velvety smoothness with a long finish.
Mark Stephen Souder passed away this last week after a year and a half struggling with cancer. Mark loved travel, good food, intoxicating beverages and invigorating company. Mark co-founded Madrona Wine Merchants with me 12 years ago and his influence is embedded in every aspect of the shop. It really never would have existed without him.
Mark was a longtime fan of Bonny Doon Winery and was one of the early members of their wine club in the mid 1980’s. This weekend we will be pouring Bonny Doon’s le cigare volant Blanc and Rouge both Saturday and Sunday at the shop. Come have a toast to Mark.
Mark with Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon at the shop.
This weekend we’ll be tasting a few things to go with the weekend festivities along with the coming month as well. But your warm sweater on and stop by the shop for a taste.
Saturday
2020 Firriato La Sabbie Dell’ Etna $20 Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio From the slopes of Volcanic Mount Etna In Sicily, comes this lovely lighter red with elegant mineral into distinct hints of blackcurrants, prune jam, black cherries, licorice, pepper and wilted violet. Warm and refined, with suave tannins and a rewarding juicy finish.
Sunday
2018 Chateau La Roque Pic Saint Loup $18 65% Grenache, 25% Syrah, 10% Mourvèdre A fancy Languedoc Red from Kermit Lynch drops in price. The wine has an expressive nose with notes of blackcurrant, gingerbread and garrigue. The gourmet mouth reveals notes of blackberry, licorice and sweet spices. Long and persistent finish. Organic Was $25 Now $18
Tuesday is Halloween!
Madrona Wine, along with all the other neighborhood merchants, will be handing out candy to all the little witches and goblins from 4 to 6pm. We will also have a little treat open for the parents of the ghosties and Ghoulies to keep their spirits up.
Weekend in Italy
It has been a wet week here in Madrona, but the sun is returning for at least a brief appearance this weekend. To celebrate we are sending our palates to Italy. Come taste along with us.
Friday 2018 Sant’Elena Rive Alte Pinot Grigio $15
Friuli Isonzo
Pinot Grigio isn’t known for long aging, but the good stuff can and here we are. Still amazingly fresh and enticing, despite five years of bottle age. Focused and concentrated, with a nose of candied lemon and almond. Juicy, fresh, and clean on the palate, with a light texture and notes of apple, melon, and herbs, supported by a backbone of chalky minerality and leading to a lightly saline finish. Was $20, now $15
Saturday 2018 Allegrini Palazzo Della Torre $20
Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella and Sangiovese
Allegreni’s Ripasso like blend is a beautiful red with lots of rich, ripe fruit, showing blackberry, walnut, dried,-fruit, fig and black-truffle aromas and flavors. It’s full-bodied, layered and chewy but ever so well-crafted and polished.
Sunday—Yes, We are OPEN Sundays Again!! 2015 Poggio Alle Sughere Morellino di Scansano $14
90% Sangiovesse, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon
A Tuscan red from Maremma, aromas of sweet violet, raspberry and pomegranate typical of the Mediterranean scrub. On the palate it is warm, with mineral earthiness, has good acidity and alcoholic content, lingering with marked and balanced tannins.
Tall and dark and rich and lovely
The wine from Irpinia is pouring
And when she passes
Each one she passes goes, “Ah”
It is a wet week here in Madrona, and we need a wine to brighten the grey. Today we are pouring an Aglianico from Campania to cheer things up. Come give it a try.
2020 Mastroberardino, Irpinia Aglianico $20
A big southern Italian red with intense aromas of black cherry, wild blackberry, violet and spices. Elegant and soft on the palate, with notes of berries and strawberry jam.
12.5% alcohol by volume
New Fall Hours
Starting this coming weekend we are back to six days a week.
Tuesday thru Sunday
Noon to 6pm
The Equinox has arrived and it is time to move into Fall. Time to break out the red wines and savor the evening light.
It is also harvest time here in Washington and to celebrate that we are pouring some great deals from Finn Hill. Stock up on these bargains as you prepare for the long nights.
Friday we’ll be pouring three wines:
2016 Finn Hill, Merveille Merlot $15
Stillwater Creek Vineyard
Aromas of red currant, dried cherry and toasty oak, the latter an indicator of the 21 months in 100% new French barrels. On the palate is where it comes alive with more cherry and currant flavors with dusty tannins and age-worthy pomegranate acidity.
Was $30 now $15
2016 Finn Hill, Pavé Grenache $18
This is all Rocks District fruit. The nose of this Walla Walla red begins with a delicate aroma suggesting minerals and dark, sweet flowers, with later aromas of citris rind, grapefruit and licorice root. The palate is supple and juicy with flavors of ripe blood orange, boysenberry, black currant and concord grape.
Was $30 now $18
2017 Finn Hill, L’Abîme Syrah $18
Red Mountain
In the glass, this Red Mountain Syrah offers fresh blueberry and blackberry and explodes on the palate with graphite, cedar, jasmine tea. The lingering finish brings notes of sage brush and wet stones.
Was $30 now $18 Saturday we’ll pop the cork on an old favorite and perhaps have a little surprise to go along with it.
2016 Finn Hill, Vivant Malbec $18
Rosebud Vineyards
The 2016 vintage exhibits an inky purple-magenta color and wafts perfumed aromas of crushed black and red berries on wet gravel, with hints of molasses and bay leaf. The pour delivers predominant fruit notes of blackberry, boysenberry, red currant, and blueberry. The finish brings mellow plum-skin acidity and tannin.
Was $30, now $18
Looking for your not too common weeknight wine? Look no farther. Today we are pouring a new red from Romania. It is not your mid-week merlot. Come sink your teeth into it.
2021 Domaine Vinarte, Castel Bolovanu, Novac $15
The Novac grape is a cross of the variety Negru Vartos and Saperavi. This one from the Castel Bolovanu displays a whole “fruit basket” (blueberries, ripe cherries), complemented by fine shades of chocolate and a lot of liveliness.
With origins dating back to the 16th century, more recently, the brothers Dominique and Laurent Courbis run their estate With Select parcels in St-Joseph and Cornas. The Courbis-style offers wines filled with intense aromas and concentrated fruit with great purity and length. This is achieved by a combination of meticulous and sustainable vineyard work undertaken to attain perfectly ripe, healthy, concentrated grapes together with fermenting in tanks and aging in barriques. The wines emphasize the expression of fruit while highlighting the specific character of the various St-Joseph and Cornas vineyard origins.
This weekend we’ll be tasting two of their wines with some special pricing. Why go to Woodinville when you can taste fantastic Syrah in Madrona?
Friday 2017 Domaine Courbis, “L’Aube” Syrah $16
100% Syrah
Rhône
This Syrah delivers a beam of dark currant and cherry fruit, steeped with bay leaf, white pepper and singed cast iron accents. Dark and winey through the finish, with a lingering iron note. This is unfiltered and leaves a bit of sediment in the last glass. 13.5% alcohol by volume Was $25, Now $16
Saturday 2017 Domaine Courbis, Saint-Joseph $30
100% Syrah
The juicy, fruit-forward 2017 Saint Joseph is a tasty mouthful of Syrah. Aged in older barrels, it offers up masses of ripe cherries, tinged with just a bit of black olive. It’s medium to full-bodied, velvety and even close to silky on the finish. 13.5% alcohol by volume Was $38, Now $30
We are getting the week rolling with this tasty little Grenache blend from a Châteauneuf du Pape winery. It is their Vin de France not the Châteauneuf (come on, it is only Tuesday).
2021 Domaine Pères de L’église, Le Espirit de Pères $14
80% Grencahe, 20% Cinsault
Vin de France
This unoaked, fresh, yet substantial red feels like something you might be served in a carafe at a patio restaurant in Avignon – brimming with vibrant black fruit and bursting with delicately spicy, typically Rhône Valley herbaceousness.
Biodynamic
The kids may be back in school, but they don’t drink wine anyway. It is still time to enjoy some fresh rosé and crisp whites. Stop by the shop and have a sip. We’ll wrap up the week with a Chianti Reserva, because, well, why not?
Thursday 2021 Château de Montfaucon, Lirac Rosé $15
30% Grenache, 25% Cinsault, 25% Mourvèdre, 10% Carignan, 10% Clairette
A punchy, “intense” rosé, whose beguiling nose evokes grenadine and English candy. A round attack, just the right amount of sweetness, a fine zesty tension and a long persistence on the tangy red fruits. Was $20, Now $15
Friday 2022 Paşaeli, Yapincak Dry White $18
100% Yapincak (pronounced Yap-in-jack)
This native grape is grown exclusively on the European side of Turkey, called Thrace, near coastal villages. The nose is aromatic with rich notes of lemon, quince and linden. Lovely citrus on the palate–bright and crisp and full in the mouth with a pleasant acidity and minerality.
12.5% alcohol by volume
Saturday 2019 San Felice, “Il Grigio” Chianti Classico Reserva $25
100% Sangiovese
This Reserva is flush with savory black licorice, fresh leather, and kirsch. It has impeccable balance and length between its concentrated core of sweet fruit, with ripe tannins, warming spice, and notes of blood orange, cherry compote, and cedar.
To ensure that we can provide you with the specific wine that you are looking for, please call or email us with your request. It’s important to note that the vintage and availability of wines can vary from year to year.
